REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegated powers conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/1775 on Trade in Seal Products
Date: 2019-12-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: animal product, animal welfare, delegated legislation, hunting, hunting regulations, import (EU), import restriction, protection of animals, seal, transfer of competence

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 17.12.2019  COM(2019) 630 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegated powers conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/1775 on Trade in Seal Products  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the exercise of the delegated powers conferred on the Commission pursuant to 
Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/1775 on Trade in 
Seal Products 

1.  INTRODUCTION 

Regulation (EC) No 1007/20091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Trade in 
Seal Products (the Basic Regulation) prohibits the placing on the EU market of seal products. 

It  was  amended  by  Regulation  (EU)  2015/17752  in  order  to  reflect  the  outcomes  of  World 
Trade  Organization  rulings  in  the  EC-Seal  products  case3.  As  a  result,  the  EU  seal  regime 
provides for two exceptions to the ban: 

1)  It allows the placing on the market of seal products where those products come from hunts 
conducted by Inuit or other indigenous communities, provided the specific conditions set 
out in Article 3(1) of the Basic Regulation, as amended, are fulfilled. 

Article  3(1a)  of  the  same  Regulation,  as  amended,  also  provides  that,  at  the  time  of  its 
placing on the EU market,  a seal  product  shall be accompanied by a document attesting 
compliance with the conditions set out for benefiting from the "Inuit or other indigenous 
communities exception". The attesting document should be issued by a body recognised 
for  that  purpose  by  the  European  Commission,  in  accordance  with  Article  3  of 
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/18504 (the Implementing Regulation). 

2)  The  EU  also  allows  the  import  of  seal  products  where  it  is  of  an  occasional  nature  and 
consists  exclusively  of  goods  for  the  personal  use  of  travellers  or  their  families  (Article 
3(2) of the Basic Regulation, as amended). 

2.  LEGAL BASIS 

Article 3 of  Regulation  (EC)  No 1007/2009,  as amended by Regulation  (EU) 2015/1775  on 
Trade in Seal Products, specifies in its paragraph (5) that, if there is evidence that a seal hunt 
is conducted primarily for commercial reasons, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt 
delegated acts in accordance with Article 4a in order to prohibit the placing on the market or 
limit the quantity that may be placed on the market of seal products resulting from the hunt 
concerned.  It  is  of  particular  importance  that  the  Commission  follow  its  usual  practice  and 
carry out consultations with experts, including Member States' experts, before adopting those 
delegated acts. 

Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Article 4a of the  Basic Regulation, as  amended, stipulate that the 
power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years 
from 10 October 2015. It also provides for the Commission to draw up a report in respect of 
the delegation of power no later than nine months before the end of that five-year period. 

1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32009R1007 
2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2015.262.01.0001.01.ENG 
3 http://trade.ec.europa.eu/wtodispute/show.cfm?id=475&code=2 
4 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOL_2015_271_R_0001 

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Article 4a (2) of  the  Basic Regulation,  as  amended, lays down that the delegation of power 
shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament 
or  the  Council  opposes  such  extension  not  later  than  three  months  before  the  end  of  each 
period, while Article 4a (3) states that the delegation of power may be revoked at any time by 
the European Parliament or by the Council. 

3.  EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION 

During  the  reporting  period,  i.e.  between  10  October  2015  and  10  January  2020,  the 
Commission  did  not  exercise  its  delegated  powers,  as  no  evidence  was  provided  that  a  seal 
hunt had been conducted primarily for commercial reasons. 

The  Commission  sees  the  need  to  extend  the  empowerment  beyond  the  current  five-year 
period, as such commercial practices could occur in the future. 

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